


Barking Up the Wrong Tree

by orphan_account



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F, vet au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 20:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1756545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alison Hendrix first meets Beth Childs, she kills her dog. Great way to start a new relationship. Beth returns a few weeks later with a new puppy, and Alison and Beth's relationship turns into more than either of them could have imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So! Hello there. This is my first multi-chapter fic, so if the pacing's a bit off, or if chapters are short, it's because I'm not quite sure what I'm doing? As always, feedback appreciated.

It’s May third, and Alison Hendrix is going about her day absolutely normally. On this particular Friday, she is preparing for her last appointment of the day, a dog named Pilot. Apparently she is going to be put down. Kidney failure. Alison knows she is going to cry, but she also knows it’s probably for the best.

 She finishes tidying her exam room, down to making sure the colorful pictures of cute animals hang correctly. She checks the clock. 5:30.

Alison walks to the waiting room, clipboard in arm, and calls out, “Pilot?”

A young woman stands up, next to her an old German shepherd. The dog’s muzzle is grayed, and she walks unevenly as her owner makes her way to Alison. “Beth,” she says, smiling briefly. (Her eyes look sad, though. Alison knows those eyes. She’s seen them too many times.)

She is rather pretty, Alison notices, almost in hindsight. Her smile is warm, even though she knows most of her life is about to fall apart. She is almost Alison’s height exactly, but the way she stands somehow makes her look taller.

In fewer words, Alison likes this Beth girl.

A few minutes later, Alison is ready. She holds a thin needle and syringe in a gloved hand, and asks if Beth wants a few moments with her dog. The woman has seemed so distant up until now, but Alison can see tears pooling in her eyes as she nods. When Alison returns a few minutes later, Beth’s eyes are red.

“She was my partner,” Beth says simply. “K-9 Unit. I loved her.”

“Oh,” Alison says. ( _A cop. This Beth girl was a cop._ Alison makes a mental note of this, even though she might never see Beth again.) “I’m sorry. I’m sure she was a great partner.”

“Yeah.”

Beth holds her dog as Alison gently pushes the plunger of the syringe. She hears Beth give a little gasp, but she’s stopped crying for the most part. Now, Alison is the one with tears in her eyes. She hates this part, watching people pretend like nothing is wrong.

Alison’s the first one to break the silence (one established by a dying breath). “Do you…do you want to take her home?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so. She’s family. She deserves a burial.”

Alison nods, and turns to find the paperwork she’ll need to fill out. A dog carrier is found, and a blanket to wrap the once-living body.

  
Beth leaves without saying anything else except a quiet “thank you” to Alison.  
Alison finishes up her daily work and drives home. She can’t help but hope Beth is doing okay. (She’s not supposed to think this much about a patient.)

A few weeks have passed, almost three months, and Alison still thinks of Beth from time to time.

                She wonders if Beth gave her dog a funeral or if she just dug a hole and did what had to be done. She hopes Beth is doing okay. She hopes Beth isn’t doing _too_ okay, forgetting her pet completely. A pet is family.

                She’s thinking too much about this.

                                       * * *

                Alison is bustling about, cleaning up an _unfortunate accident_ left by the last patient, a cat named Achilles.

                She is rushing, getting ready for her 2 PM appointment, a young German shepherd named Riot. There’s an owner listed too. Beth Childs.

                It can’t be Beth-from-a-couple-months-ago. Beth, of the sad smiles and firm handshakes. There were probably dozens of Beths in their small town. Still. Maybe.

                Her heart’s racing, and she knows she’s on the wrong path here. Barking up the wrong tree seems appropriate, and she laughs to herself. _Barking._ She’s practically fallen in love with a woman whose only interaction with Alison was when she killed her dog. Yeah. Great times. Great choices by Alison Hendrix. _Seriously._

                She takes a few deep breaths, and walks out to the waiting room. When she calls out Riot’s name, Beth Childs stands up.

                _It’s her._

_Jesus._

                They make awkward small talk on the way to the exam room, “hey”s and “have we met before?”s. This new puppy is barely six weeks old, a ball of fluff and limbs and tiny barks.  She’s trying to lick Beth’s face, and Beth is giggling uncomfortably, holding the puppy away from her face.

                Alison holds Riot on the exam table, much to the dismay of the puppy, who’s barking up a storm (well, not really a storm. More of a light shower).

                “Alison Hendrix, by the way,” she says, holding up the puppy’s ear.

                “Beth Childs.”

                “So I saw.”

                More pseudo-flirting ensues over the next few minutes, between Alison’s trying to check over Riot.

                The rest of the check-up goes as planned, with nothing unusual at all (except for Riot trying to nip at Alison’s fingers- twice).

                As Beth’s turning to leave, latching the pet carrier, Alison holds out a little scrap of paper.

                “My number,” she explains, a sly smile on her face. “You know. To call. So I can make sure Riot’s doing okay.”

                Beth knows nothing was wrong with her dog, but takes the number anyway.

               


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nerd dates. Playing with Beth's dog. General gay shenanigans.

Alison’s hand is shaking as she holds the phone to her ear; each dial tone feels like an eternity. A thousand thoughts are running at about a thousand miles per hour. _What if Beth doesn’t pick up? What if she thinks I’m being annoying? What if she didn’t really want my number? What if-_

“Alison?”

“Beth? Oh, My God, Hi.”

“Hi.”

There’s a few beats of silence, occupied only by the sound of Alison’s heartbeat.

“So,” she says after a while. “There’s, uh, there’s this diner thing near here, and, uh-”

“Are you asking me on a _date,_ Ali?”

_Ali._ No one’s called her Ali since high school, but Alison can’t say she’s complaining. Which kind of scares her, because she’s _definitely not gay._ Probably. Even though Beth’s kind of really cute. Oh well. She kept telling herself this was _strictly platonic._

_“_ It’s not a date, Beth. God.”

“Fine. See you for lunch?”  
                “No. Dinner. I have to get off work.”

“Fine, Hendrix. Dinner. Like, six?”

“Sure. Yeah. I’ll meet you there.”

“No. I’m picking you up.”

“What? Okay, okay. Sure. See you.”

“Bye, Hendrix.”

Alison hangs up the phone, and a giggle escapes her lips as she tries not to outwardly squeal. A _date._ With _Beth Childs._ No, it wasn’t a date. Alison _was not gay._ (That’s what she kept repeating over and over.)

Alison had gotten home from work and she was already late. She’d taken a shower because she didn’t want to meet Beth smelling like dog, but now she didn’t have time to do her hair.  She was still rushing, and Beth was supposed to pick her up in fifteen minutes. She had just barely finished putting her makeup on when the doorbell rang.

She ran to answer it, forgetting that she still hadn’t changed yet. She was wearing pink scrubs still, and Beth was dressed for a…..not a date. But nicer than _scrubs._

“Oh, my God,” Beth laughs, more of a giggle. “That…is….kind of adorable, really.”  
                “Just…give me, like, two minutes,” Alison says, visibly flustered as she hurries back into her house.  
                When she returns, Beth is sitting on Alison’s counter, munching an apple contentedly. Alison’s nicer clothes aren’t even that nice, just some pants and a shirt that isn’t covered in dog or cat hair.

“You’re…that’s my…” Alison’s words are trailing off, and there’s a faint loo of anger of her face.

“I’m hungry,” Beth says innocently.

“We’re about to leave,” Alison reminds her. “For _dinner_.”

“Fine,” Beth sighs, probably too dramatically. She hops off the counter, and tosses the apple into Alison’s front bushes as they head to the car. Alison stiffens momentarily, but says nothing.

They don’t say much on the drive to the actual diner (save for Alison’s directions-Beth has insisted on driving). Alison’s fairly certain her heartbeat can be heard in Florida, though. She absently drums her fingers on the armrest, hoping Beth doesn’t realize how nervous she is.

The last few minutes of the drive flash by in seconds, and before she knows what’s going on, she and Beth are at a table, waiting to order.

Alison just gets a salad and a fruit smoothie (“It’s healthier, Beth.”). Beth orders a hamburger and some soda Alison has never heard of-she doesn’t drink soda. It’s unhealthy. Over dinner they share conversation, awkward at first but soon becoming easier. Alison learns that Beth loves to run, and had grown up near a farm way out in the country. She tells Beth about her love of musicals, and (with some needling from Beth) that she’d never actually been with another woman before.

 

“Good,” Beth says, grinning cheekily. “You’ll be ruined for women after me. I’ve been told I’m a good teacher.”

 

Alison says nothing, but she’s trying to hide her own laugh.

 

On the way home, Beth convinces Alison to stop at a little coffee shop for dessert. Alison, again, goes for the healthier option, choosing to get simply a blueberry muffin (“It’s healthier, Beth. We’ve been over this.”) Beth gets a doughnut, complete with white frosting and sprinkles. Alison laughs, and Beth asks her what’s so funny.

 

“Because…” Alison says awkwardly. “You’re a cop…eating…a doughnut….”

 

Beth punches her playfully in the arm, and she’s laughing too. They both make dumb jokes on the ride to Beth’s house.

 

When they get home, Riot greets them at the door, enthusiastically jumping all over Beth and Alison. Beth tries to get her to stop licking Alison, but Alison is not complaining. She’s laughing; giggling, almost, and Beth can’t help but smile herself.

 

Not twenty minutes later finds them laying on the floor in Beth’s living room, playing with Riot. They’re both laughing now, watching the puppy running practically up the walls. She’s chasing a flashlight Beth found, and it’s absolutely hysterical. In the back of her mind, Alison knows these games aren’t very good for dogs, but she doesn’t say anything to Beth. Somewhere, Beth’s phone rings, but she looks at the number and turns it off.

 

Later, Alison’s left alone with Riot, who’s scampering around her, while Beth makes a snack in the kitchen. (Alison had tried to insist that they’d just eaten, but Beth had said that you can’t live on a _salad._ )

 

Alison smells the macaroni burning, and she jumps up, leaving poor Riot to fall off her stomach suddenly, letting out a startled yelp.

 

“Beth!” Alison says. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Beth says coolly. “Haven’t you ever witnessed gourmet cooking before?”

 

The macaroni is horribly, horribly burned, and Alison and Beth both know it, but they pretend it’s the best thing they’ve ever eaten. Riot whines at their feet until Beth “accidentally” drops some macaroni down to her. (Another thing Alison knows you shouldn’t do for a dog, but again, she says nothing.)

 

They play with Riot for almost another hour. By this point, it’s nearly midnight, but Alison isn’t thinking about having to wake up to get to work by 8 AM. She’s just thinking about Beth.

 

Beth is so comfortable, and she’s playing with Alison’s hair, and her chin is resting on Alison’s head, and Alison is very, very tired. She still isn’t thinking about work. She doesn’t think of work, in fact, until precisely 6:52 AM, when she snaps awake with a jolt that even wakes Beth.

 

“I gotta go,” she mumbles urgently, “I’m gonna be late for work.”

 

Alison drives home and takes the fastest possible shower she can, before getting dressed in yesterday’s scrubs. The clock as she leaves reads 8:02. She tries to come up with excuses on her drive to work.

 

_I was… at a friend’s house. I lost track of time. I,I I…_

_I stayed late at my girlfriend’s?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison's gay crisis. Nerd flirting. Wine.

_Girlfriend._ That doesn’t seem right, because Alison  _isn’t gay._ Of course not. 

But  Alison’s stomach still flutters when she sees Beth, and her heartbeat speeds up to about a million miles an hour, and she can’t ignore that. She can’t ignore the way she wants to kiss Beth more than she ever wanted to kiss Donnie. 

Okay. Fine. Maybe she is a little bit gay, or maybe Beth is just different. She decides it doesn’t really matter.

She’s been sitting in the parking lot of the vet clinic for five minutes now. Great. She’s even later. She sighs, and half-runs/half-jogs to the door, hoping nothing’s happened yet. 

“Alison!” says her boss, sounding rather relieved. “Where have you been?” 

“I, uh…” Alison stammers, scrambling for an excuse. She decides to go with the not-quite lie. “I was at my, um, my girlfriend’s house.” 

Her boss looked shocked for about a second, before her face turns into a knowing smile. “Fine, then. Just make sure you’re not late again. And get ready. Your first appointment’s in twenty minutes.” 

Alison breathes in silent relief, and makes sure she gets ready for the day faster than she ever has.

 Her appointment goes quickly. It’s one of her favorite patients, a man named Ramon and his bird Avocado. Alison loves that bird, even if he doesn’t have the…cleanest language. (Ramon’s taught him to swear. Every time now, he greets Alison with a “Hey, dumb-ass.” Alison rolls her eyes and laughs.) 

Nothing else of note happens for the rest of the day. Three more appointments and two redone ponytails later, Alison’s on her drive home. She knows she’s in too deep, because she’s singing cheesy love songs at the top of her lungs (the ones she used to hate) and she’s thinking of Beth. In fact, nothing of note happens for the next week or so. A couple calls from Beth. Work. Nothing much. 

Until, almost a full week (a _week_ without Beth!) later, after a particularly stressful day. 

She gets home, and just as she opens the door, a car honks behind her, on the street. She turns to look, and Beth’s waving at her from the parked car. 

Of course it’s Beth. 

Twenty minutes later, Alison is riding shotgun in Beth’s car. Beth had barely given her ten minutes to change out of her work clothes, let alone get something to eat. Oh well. She’s with Beth, and it’s kind of hard to worry about anything else. 

“How was your day?” Beth asks, seeming genuinely curious for once. 

“Terrible,” Alison sighs. “Three cats threw up on me.  _Three!_ ” 

Beth laughs. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve got a way to calm you down, don’t worry.”

 They end up in Beth’s living room again. This time, without the dog. Beth had shut Riot out in the backyard, and every few minutes, Alison could hear the puppy bark or whine. 

Beth disappears into the kitchen for a few moments, before returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses. 

“You drink?” Beth asks. 

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

A short while later finds them slightly tipsy and telling dumb stories. Alison’s laughing, and it occurs to her that Beth was right about calming her down.

 “No, no dude- I was like,  _twelve_ ” Beth begins, “And there was this girl _-_ I was in sixth grade, okay? So anyway, this girl, she like, apparently had this major crush on me, right? So there I was, and this girl was sorta cute, and I was in her room and we were doing something incredibly stupid. Probably listening to some boy band I haven’t heard in ten years. And she kissed me. And it was so terrible, oh my god. But it was fun at the time. So yeah.”

 There’s quiet here, the only sound Alison’s giggling.

 “Who was your first kiss?” Beth asks. 

“Oh, God,” Alison sighs. “Not counting cats? Or musical posters?” (This is how Alison knows she’s a little drunk. She’d never say these things sober. Dignity.) “Well, I was seventeen, and I had this boyfriend. Donnie. Oh, my God, I’m so glad I broke up with him. Anyway, it was so cliché, you wouldn’t believe. I think it was, like,  _prom,_ or something- right? And it was like, typical high-school kissing. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing. End of story.” 

This goes on for a while longer, until they are both mostly sober, and have told pretty much all of the stories they have worth telling, at least for tonight. Sleep comes easy, and tonight, Alison remembers to set her phone alarm. 

She really needs to stop doing this. 

Beth’s not her girlfriend. They’ve known each other for a week and a half.

 She probably doesn’t worry about these things like Alison does.

 Alison makes a promise to herself. She  _will not_  stay the night at Beth’s tonight. In fact, she won’t stay at Beth’s again until ( _if_ ) they go on another date. 

Big  _if_. Sure, Beth likes her well enough, but… 

She  _really_ needs to stop thinking about this. 

And, to her credit, she does. She only thinks about Beth a few times the next day. Even less the next day. But Beth is always in the back of her mind, something nagging at her to just  _call Beth already_. But she can’t. Because there’s also the (completely invalid) worry that Beth doesn’t care.

 Alison realizes she should probably just  _ask_ Beth if this is actually going anywhere (if  _they’re_  going anywhere). 

It’s only 1:07. She still has three more hours before she can call. She turns her phone off, and resigns herself to not thinking about Beth until she gets home. 

Almost the second after Alison settles into her couch, she takes out her phone. Before she can even unlock it, it notifies her that she has a new text. It’s from Beth. 

_Hey, Ali._

_You wouldn’t happen to be free this Saturday? I thought we could watch a movie….I have more wine ;)_  

Alison knows Beth’s trying to flirt with her, and she doesn’t have any actual idea of how to respond. She decides to play it cool, try not to show how excited she is. 

She’s stressing out over how to word her reply, but figures that Beth’s already forgotten any ideas that Alison was anything other than awkward. So she sends it, before she can have any doubts. 

_Sounds good. I’ll drive myself this time, though. :)_

Alison puts her phone down, and allows herself a little smile.

 She ignores her doubts, because for the moment, everything is perfect.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More wine. First kisses. An answer to why Beth keeps ignoring all those phone calls.

Beth texts back no more than five minutes later.

_lol Okay sounds good. see you Saturday._

Alison chuckles, and sends one more message.

_See you Saturday._

Alison notes in the back of her mind that Beth has only been to her house once, and she also notes that that needs to change. Oh well. For the moment, she is just happy that Beth still wants too see her after knowing her for almost a month.

Besides, Beth and wine is always a good mixture, as Alison has learned from previous experiences.

Needless to say, she’s excited. The rest of the week passes by in a blur, meows and barks and prescriptions. She keeps her cell phone by her side every minute she’s at home and checks in incessantly during breaks, hoping Beth has texted.

They text now. That’s a thing girlfriends do, right? Alison’s pretty sure that’s a thing.

It doesn’t matter. _God._ She’s acting like a thirteen-year-old with a crush. She probably looks pathetic to Beth.

She should really stop thinking about this. Beth has already gone on a _date_ with her, and invited Alison to her house. Twice. That has to mean _something_ ,

 

Finally, after a week-long eternity, Saturday has rolled around. Alison has time to get ready properly today, and she spends extra time making sure her outfit is perfect.

Not too fancy.

Not too casual.

This is harder than she’d anticipated. She probably should’ve planned her outfit ahead of time. It’s too late to worry about that now. Alison wishes she could just calm down.

Finally, after nearly a half hour, she’s decided on something to wear. It was simple, and colorful, but not too bright. It was Alison.

Alison even takes the extra time to put on a little makeup, which she doesn’t usually bother doing (there’s no point in a 25 dollar foundation if some dog is just going to lick it off).

She makes a list in her head. Outfit? Check. Makeup? Check. Slightly-confident attitude? Check. She was trying to act like she had some idea what she was doing. In reality, she had about as much experience with this as she did with pretending to be confident. That is to say, pretty much zero.

That was okay, though. Beth seemed to like her well enough.

 

These thoughts are still buzzing in her head when she pulls into Beth’s driveway. She knocks on the door nervously; a thousand doubts in her mind telling her that Beth won’t even answer. Of course, not thirty seconds later, Beth opens the door. Alison smiles, trying to hide the fact that her heart is beating about a million miles an hour.

 

“Hey,” Beth says.

“Hello.”

“So…now what?”

There are a thousand questions Alison wants to ask, but what she comes up with is “I don’t know. You got any ideas?”

Beth doesn’t say anything. She acts like she’s thinking, dramatically holding her hand to her chin and creasing her brow. _God, she’s cute._

“We…. Were gonna watch a movie?”

“Oh. Right,. Yeah.”

 

A few minutes and a few more words of awkward small talk later, Beth had made good on her promise. They were camped out on the couch, Beth pressing play on some movie Alison had never heard of. It was an action flick, with lots of explosions and even more guns. Beth’s favorite type of movie, apparently, but Alison didn’t care for it.

 

Oh well. It doesn’t really matter, because Beth also fulfilled her promise of wine.

 

Alison doesn’t really understand this movie, but that’s okay, because Beth isn’t really watching it either. Alison’s too busy staring at Beth, and Beth at Alison. Alison is captivated by Beth’s features, and she knew it was totally cliché, but it felt like they were the only people in the world.

 

Before Alison’s brain has caught up to her body, she’s learned that Beth’s lips taste like wine, and that she probably should’ve kissed a girl before. Beth’s lips are so much warmer and softer and _better_ than any boy’s she’s ever kissed.

 

Alison pulls away, only because she needs to breathe. “…Wow.”

Beth’s got a cheeky grin on her face. “I told you you’d be ruined for women after me.”

“No kidding. Wow. Wow.”

Alison would never say these things if she had been thinking clearly, but she’s still half-drunk on the taste of Beth’s lips, so she can hardly be held accountable.

 

“Have you ever even watched this movie before?” Alison asks, even though she suspects she already knows the answer.

“Nope.” Beth’s got a cocky grin on her face, and Alison has half a mind to kiss it off. She doesn’t, however much she wants to,

There’s an awkward silence for a couple moments, until Alison breaks it.

“Would it be completely out of place to ask if we could kiss again?” she asks, only blushing about three shades of red.

“Absolutely not,” and then Alison’s lost in a Beth and in a wine-flavored haze.

 

They’re interrupted when Beth’s phone rings. She looks at the screen, whispering a quiet “ _shit_ ” before answering it, holding up one finger for Alison to wait. Alison can only hear one half of the conversation, but it doesn’t sound good.

 

“Hey.”  
”I haven’t seen you in like, a month.”

“I know.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re _what_?”

“Okay.”

“Fine.”

“Give me like, thirty seconds.”

“Bye.”

 

Beth hangs up, her expression somewhere between frustrated and angry.  “Hold on, Ali. This won’t take very long.”

 

Alison’s confused, but doesn’t say anything. She sits awkwardly on the couch, gunshots still firing from the TV. When five or six minutes have passed and Beth hasn’t returned, Alison gets up slowly to walk towards the door.

 

“Beth? Is everything ok-“

 

She’s cut off when she notices who Beth’s talking to. It’s a man, someone Alison’s never seen before. (That’s a stupid thought, she thinks. Of course she’s never seen him before.) He’s not unattractive, either.

 

Beth turns to look at Alison, her face slightly panicked.

 

“Beth? Who-who is this?”

 

It takes Beth a moment to answer, as if weighing her options. She decides, apparently, to go with the truth.

 

“Alison, this is my boyfriend, Paul.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still more wine. Paul. Phone calls and texting.

_Boyfriend._ The word rings in Alison’s ears like a knife.

 

_She wasn’t your girlfriend anyway,_ Alison scolds herself.   _You didn’t mean anything. You were just a fling._

“I’ll leave,” Alison says, nearly shoving past Beth and turning to walk out the door.

 

“Alison, wait-“

 

“No. I’m leaving. Thanks for nothing.”

 

_Thanks for nothing. Jesus._ Now Beth thinks she’s immature.

 

_Beth doesn’t matter anymore_ , Alison reminds herself.  

 

Alison still thinks about Beth (more than she probably should.). One night, almost exactly three days after she walked out, she decides to send Beth a text. Something simple, something to look like Alison doesn’t care anymore.

 

That’s not really what happens. Alison tries for a long while to come up with something apathetic, but her mind only gives her with two words. She presses _Send_ before she can regret anything.

 

_I’m sorry._

 

Beth replies about a half hour later, after Alison had started hoping she didn’t see the message. She doesn’t open the text for a while. And she’s not sure if she’s scared or excited.

 

_what? why_

It takes Alison a moment to figure out a reply. God. Texting Beth used to be so easy, but now, Alison struggled with even finding a sentence,

 

_For wasting your time._

Beth’s text comes not five minutes later this time.

 

_you didnt waste my time ali_

_You should’ve told me you had a boyfriend. I didn’t mean anything, Beth. You should’ve told me that._

_You weren’t nothing_

Alison doesn’t respond immediately.  She wants to say something that doesn’t sound too…involved? attached? She doesn’t know the word. She decides on something, simple, only three words.

 

_Don’t lie, Beth._

Beth doesn’t text back.

Alison puts her phone down and sighs, rubbing her temple. She pours another glass of wine from the bottle on the counter. A nagging voice in the back of her mind reminds her that this is her third glass, but she ignores it. It’s just one night, so what harm can it do? Besides, it’s Sunday tomorrow, so there isn’t any work.

 

Alison tries to ignore the fact that her “reasoning” is just a list of excuses. She takes another sip, the taste of the wine stronger than the taste of her tears.

 

The world is starting to get fuzzy and Alison stops drinking here, because she wants to remember this night, this feeling. She wants to remember this point in her life, so when she sees Beth again, she can remember how terrible she made Alison feel.

 

But. Then again, it wasn’t all bad.

Alison, after three days, is already trying to erase Beth. Trying to reduce Beth to nothing but a grey memory, a blur of no particular meaning.

 

Already, it’s failing. Beth is too clear, the images in the back of Alison’s mind too sharp. She can still taste the wine on Beth’s lips, and every color of Beth’s house is bright in Alison’s thoughts.

 

Alison’s supposed to be angry at Beth, supposed to be forgetting her, but she’d give anything to kiss Beth again. She exhales loudly, wishing everything could be simple for once. She knows, though, that as long as Elizabeth Childs is involved, she can kiss a simple life goodbye.

 

And that’s okay, actually. Beth’s a whirlwind, and she can sweep Alison off her feet and tear her apart at the same time.

 

Alison stops the wine bottle and prepares slowly for bed. In the thick silence, the fact that she alone is even more pronounced. Alison eventually sinks into sleep.

 

She doesn’t dream about Beth.

 

Beth’s life goes on as usual for the next twenty-four hours. It’s the twenty-fifth that everything starts crashing down.

 

She’s just settling into bed when her cell phone rings. She grumbles, picking it up from the bedside table.

 

_Paul calling._ The white words burn more than the light on Beth’s tired eyes. Paul’s called a couple times before, but Beth hadn’t picked up until now.

 

She answers the phone. “What do you want, Paul?”

 

“Who was that girl?” Paul’s voice is so harsh, after getting used to Alison’s.

 

“Alison? She’s just my friend. Why?”

 

“You expect me to believe that?”

 

“Um, yeah. Why wouldn’t you?”

 

“Are you cheating on me, Beth?” Paul’s words have nearly no expression past accusing. Alison’s voice, though, was already so soft, so much more inviting than Paul’s. Alison, who probably won’t speak to her ever again.

 

“I’m not cheating on you,” Beth says, probably too quickly, too defensively.

 

Paul doesn’t respond for a few seconds, until finally speaking five words.

 

“I want the truth, Beth.”

 

Paul hangs up before Beth can say anything, and she listens to the dial tone for a few seconds before hanging up.

 

She doesn’t put her phone down. She quickly pulls up her contacts, where _Alison Hendrix_ is already in her “most recent” texts. She opens a text for Alison, closes it, and holds her finger over the _call_ button.

 

Her hand is shaking by now, from nervousness or physical strain, she can’t tell. One touch away, one click and she can talk to Alison, say _I’m sorry_ and _Can I come over?_ She knows she can’t call Alison, and puts her phone away.

 

As she falls asleep, voices bounce around in her head. First just words, phrases she wish she could say, but eventually she realizes she’s forming a conversation. It’s cliché and Beth knows it won’t happen, will never happen, but she still indulges herself in these dreams.

 

_“Alison, I’m sorry.”_

_“It’s okay, Beth. It doesn’t matter.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_Here, Alison steps forward and wraps her arms around Beth, and their lips meet so easily it takes Beth’s breath away._

 

_“I broke up with Paul last night.”_

Beth’s eyes jolt open. This idea, this fictional sentence has made her realize that breaking up with Paul is something she could do. Something she actually wants to do. She realizes that even a chance at having Alison would be better than staying with Paul. Paul, who is so predictable, and boring, and the stereotypical Great Boyfriend.

 

What Beth doesn’t know is that Alison is having almost the exact same thoughts- only a few miles away and quite a bit angrier.

 

Beth sighs, rubs her eyes, lies back down. She’s already planning for tomorrow, and she’s making a to-do list. It has only two things on it.

_1._ _Call Paul._

_2._ _Call Alison._


End file.
